Cons:

As a launch title for the system two years ago, EA didn't earn many fans for its Tiger Woods series. Last year's game improved on things in almost every way. Now, Tiger Woods 08 continues that trend. Though not without its problems -- mostly some online issues that should be resolved soon -- Tiger Woods 08 will have you staring out at lush green fairways well into the bitter winter months.

Like the Madden titles, the Tiger Woods games aren't about reinventing themselves. Because both franchises have little in the way of direct competition, there's very little incentive -- or need -- to do a complete overhaul. The evolution of both series is a slow one, with new features added here and there and old features slowly phased out. This year's game offers a few new features that -- again -- don't markedly change the Tiger Woods experience, but do subtly affect it in one way or another.

One of the big new features that EA is touting this year is the Photo Game Face feature and, unfortunately, it still needs some pieces ironed out. Due to the fact that the feature was more popular than EA expected, I was unable to log-in to the site where you can upload pictures of yourself. As a back-up, you can skip the uploading process by using an Xbox Live Vision Camera. I didn't have access to one, but I was able to use the Photo Game Face feature on the PS3 version of the game using the PS2 EyeToy. I'm guessing the results with the Microsoft camera would be just as impressive, if not more so, due to the higher quality of the pictures. That said, even using a last-gen EyeToy, I was blown away by what the game created for me. After uploading your pics, you synch up some on-screen cursors to your eyes, ears, nose, etc. And then you wait. It's not a quick process. If you're just using one picture, it takes about ten minutes. If you're using both a straight shot and a profile, it can take up to twenty. It's worth the wait. The career mode took on a new meaning when it was literally me that was doing the golfing.

The other big new feature that EA is banking on is GamerNet. In addition to the standard way to take the game online -- and there's no shortage of them -- GamerNet attempts to create an online community of virtual golfers. Log-in and you can check out the best drives, longest putts, and other assorted saved moments. You can then try to outdo them. In many ways, it comes across as just a fancy version of a challenge mode. You try to sink a 45-foot putt or reach the green with a monster drive, but eventually, you'll get sucked into what the mode is all about -- trying to hit spectators. You can upload your "greatest" moments so they can be viewed by all. Think of it as being like a very interactive version of YouTube. In this case, your job is to drill some poor guy in the nads with your fairway shot. I'm guessing the GamerNet will evolve as gamers discover more uses for it.

On the course, things have also gotten some tweaking. One of the more major gameplay additions is the revival of the three-click swing. I must be getting old, because the manual describes it as an option to "the classic analog swing." It seems like just yesterday that things were the other way around. In any event, having the choice of a three-click swing -- called up by simply clicking on the right stick -- adds a lot to things. I found the analog swing a bit looser this year than last, so there were times I switched over to a three-click swing when I really needed to nail a shot.